Opposition parties voice sharp criticism of Bulgaria's 2027 draft budget

The draft 2027 state budget presented by Prime Minister Rumen Radev has drawn sharp criticism from parliamentary parties over its projected deficit, the increase in public debt and concerns about additional inflationary pressure.

The GERB-SDS coalition criticised the government for failing to publish the budget on the Ministry of Finance website by the time it was presented. The party described the proposed fiscal framework as inflationary and warned of further increases in public debt, taxes and expenditure, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported. Former Education Minister Krasimir Valchev called it "a budget of inertia".

Martin Dimitrov of Democratic Bulgaria said that the budget prepared by the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party amounted to "a budget for a very harsh winter, a winter of shattered hopes". In his words, people had expected prices to fall, but would instead face a sharp rise in inflation. He believes the actual deficit will be 4.2%, rather than 3.5%.

"We are facing hardship and a massive increase in indebtedness, with no measures to cut expenditure or improve people's well-being. There are no measures to dismantle the model against which people protested in 2025," Dimitrov said, as quoted by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Vazrazhdane's Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Tsoncho Ganev, also commented on the 2027 draft budget, saying that it continued the policies of previous liberal governments: new borrowing, a higher tax burden and no meaningful measures to raise incomes or bring prices under control. "Bulgaria needs support for production, small businesses and incomes, not yet another round of borrowing," he said.

MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) also voiced criticism. Stanislav Anastassov picked up on Prime Minister Rumen Radev's own metaphor, in which he described the state of public finances as "a heavy lorry with no brakes".

"The only thing we agree on is that this budget is a heavy lorry with no brakes, hurtling towards a precipice. We hear plenty of fine aspirations about the space industry, gigafactories and artificial intelligence. But while the government is setting its sights on space, I want to assure you that Bulgarian citizens remain firmly grounded, if not crushed, by rising prices," Anastassov said.

Edited by Miglena Ivanova